UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Wednesday, lashed out against the BJP and accused it of fanning communal passions that led to riots in Muzaffarnagar.
The chief minister, while replying to a debate on the Muzaffarnagar riots in the state Assembly, said: “The BJP is vitiating the atmosphere in the state with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections and some of its members have played an active role in the riots. This was a planned riot so that one party could derive political mileage from it.”
The normally reticent Akhilesh Yadav seemed rather aggressive in the state Assembly and pointedly asked the BJP whether or not its members had circulated objectionable material in the form of SMS and video clippings.
”Is there any guarantee that there will not be more attempts like this?” he asked.
The CM reiterated that his government had acted promptly and said that official found guilty would have to face action while the rioters would be suitably penalised.
He asserted that his government would not take action that could be termed as biased. “Both the communities have suffered and houses of Hindus and Muslims have been gutted,” he said.
The chief minister also defended his senior colleague Mohd Azam Khan and termed the sting operation in which his name figured as a “cut and paste job”.
The Opposition, meanwhile, also attacked the Akhilesh government over the riots and demanded a judicial probe or a CBI probe into the same.
Opposition leaders pointed out the lapses committed by the state government in dealing with the riot situation.
Amidst heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches, the BSP questioned the state government’s role during the Muzaffarnagar riots. He said that the Samajwadi Party and the BJP were equally to blame for the situation. The BSP demanded a probe into Mr Azam Khan’s role in the riots.
Mr Hukum Singh of BJP narrated the sequence of events that led to the riots and demanded to know why the rioters who were arrested on August 27 were quietly let off within hours.
Ms Uma Bharti who made her first appearance in the state Assembly on Wednesday and also her maiden speech here, said that people had lost faith in the government. She said that the government had taken one-sided action because of vote-bank politics.